Experimental maestro Alex Casey (aka Power Party) makes his official debut with a double-single release. The Prince Edward Island-based artist uses drum machines and eccentric synths to grace listeners with his self-dubbed brand of “lo-fi bedroom pop.”
Kicking off the EP is the supremely interesting yet inappropriately named “Hypernormal.” Hypernormal, by definition, is to be “of the nature of or pertaining to a mathematical normal.” Yet, every byte of sound, every millisecond of music, has some sort of airy, electric effect or distortion to it.
Perhaps one could then use this to consider that nature is never as rigid as we perceive it to be. Just as well, the groovy, residual drumbeat and elephant-esque sounds help create an astoundingly surreal effect, as though we’re inside the head of one of those rainclouds that appear when the sun is still out.
“Allowance” takes these energetic echoes and applies it in a more atmospheric setting. Combining scratchy strings and drums with lo-fi but emotionally charged vocals, it’s not hard for listeners to envision themselves floating through space while this piece is in their ears.
The release is very experimental in nature, with only a trivial amount of structure to guide Casey’s uniquely designed beats and synths.
“I used Audacity to record,” said Casey. “I’d be at my computer and would record and edit for hours. Two big inspirations for me would be John Baldessari and Pusha T.”
“I basically want people to cry and dance.”
With some curious synths to begin with and a static finish, Power Party’s latest could be likened to a collaboration between Awolnation and Birdy Nam Nam featuring The National. This duo of a release proves that Charlottetown’s Alex Casey not only defies expectations, but rewrites his own expectations before defying them as well.